Today, Thursday 6th Nov 2008, I took the usual route round the neighbourhood.

I waved at one neighbour in Marlings Park Avenue and later spoke to a gardener who was raking the leaves off a lawn in Wimborne Avenue.

He told me I should have been gardening instead of walking round the block. Raking a lawn, he said, keeps you fit and even works your abdominal muscles.

Why not do both gardening and walking? Fortunately, we don’t need a license or special permission to do any kind of exercise.

Nor do we need to wait for any particular time of day to exercise. We could wake up at 3 a.m. and do a hundred push ups. Most of us don’t! But we could!

Strength training is also very important. If someone is on top of you strangling you, it helps to be strong enough to throw them off even if you know how to use pressure points i.e. sensitive areas of the body.

You may know all the martial arts skills available but if you lack the strength to apply them, you are still in trouble.

Making your muscles stronger usually involves both pulling and pushing. I pull an iron bar plus weights off the ground and up to my chin on a daily basis and also hang from a bar high up on the walls of my gym. That covers the pulling and the gorilla impersonations!

I cover the pushing by doing bench presses on a daily basis. I also do pushups at an angle to a wall or table. I did most of these exercises today when I returned home from my walk.

It is easier to get moving if you are already moving. So get going by walking, gardening, pulling and pushing. This should keep you healthier and alive longer.

Watch your diet as well like my neighbour in yesterday’s post.

My sister, who has told me I should sign this post -’wonderman’ has just offered me some apple strudel with cream.

I turned down this generous offer until later when I would be hungrier. My slim neighbour would have been proud of me.

Today, Wednesday Nov 5th 2008, the world woke up to a black President Elect with an Irish sounding name - Obama!

Fireworks will be lit all over the UK today, not necessarily to celebrate his victory, but to celebrate the discovery of the Gunpowder plot to blow up Parliament in 1605. But, doubtless, some people will use the occasion to celebrate Obama’s victory.

I liked and respected all the Presidential candidates but think Obama’s victory will be good for the USA and the world. Too many of us think we can’t do things. Now every one knows that when people say we can’t do something, we will reply: “Yes, We Can!”

What a great attitude to have! I have loved the optimistic attitude of the great self help gurus of the USA since I first came across the books of Norman Vincent Peale and Frank Bettger.

Black citizens around the world have at least two great role models showing them and the rest of us the way within the last week.

First, the black British driver, Lewis Hamilton, won the World Formula One Championship in one of the closest and most exciting races I have ever seen and then Barack Obama won a huge election victory in a race which was not nearly so close but which was equally exciting.

Both men were the first black men, even though both had one white parent, to achieve such victories. At long last, a majority of Americans are judging people by the ‘content of their character rather than the colour of their skin.’

Today, I walked round the neighbourhood on one of those days when you meet and talk to quite a few people.

I first met a very active neighbour who is only one year younger than me. He was on his knees fixing a neighbour’s wall. I asked him how he kept so fit.

When necessary, he goes into diet mode and cuts out all sweet foods and sticks to vegetables and meat. If he is tempted to stray, he says to himself “Don’t even think about it!” He commented: “It is all about mental attitude.”

He has also learned not to clean up his plate at meals. Most parents, including mine, from the time of World War II taught their children to eat up everything on their plate even if they were no longer hungry.

My neighbour now realises that he no longer needs to impress his parents and stops eating immediately he no longer feels hungry.

He also appreciates the freedom his light weight and agility give him to crawl around in crowded attics fixing people’s plumbing.

The more reasons one has to do something, the more likely one is to do it.

I walked on and met two neighbours in Berens way who assured me that I had lost weight and was walking faster than usual. I thought how nice it was of them to provide encouragement.

We discussed the importance of wearing shoes that help you to keep your balance. Death often follows a fall when you are older.

I walked further down the road and met up with a neighbour who risks his life trimming the huge hedge at the front of his garden. I tried to persuade him to hire a younger man to do the job but I don’t think he was convinced!

On my way home I again met up with my very active neighbour who controls his diet so well. I mentioned how King Charles I had got stuck in the window whilst attempting an escape from Carisbooke castle in 1648.

If he had been as active as my neighbour he might have escaped and saved his life. Instead, Charles was executed in 1649. Stay slim and you are less likely to die of a heart attack and more likely to climb out of a window if your house is on fire!

Today, Friday Oct 3rd, I went shopping and walking at the same time. It was a blustery and showery day and quite cold.

I bought a Radio Times at one shop and then refuse sacks at a household goods shop. I asked the owner if he was feeling the recession. He wasn’t.

I then walked along to a TV shop. I asked the assistant if people had stopped buying TVs. They hadn’t. Perhaps, he suggested, this was because they could no longer afford to go out and had to stay at home watching TV instead.

“It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good!” I said.

This sentence was first written down in John Heywood’s ‘A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the Englishe tongue, 1546′:

“An yll wynde that blowth no man to good, men say.”

The phrase ‘ill wind’ has also been used in connection with the French horn which is widely regarded as hard to play -”the wind that nobody blows good”. You could probably apply the phrase to the bagpipes as well. I have struggled for years to play the pipes properly.

I moved on to Waterstone’s the bookseller. There was a queue of people at the sales counter. “No recession here!” I announced to the three sales assistants. They humoured me by laughing at my comment. You can get away with anything as you get older!

I moved on to a food shop. The glass door was cracked. I asked if vandals had caused the problem. “No!” said the lady. “One of the boy sales assistants had shut the door a little too violently.”

“I quite understand,” I said, “My brother rips the handles off fridge doors.”

She looked shocked.

“He doesn’t do it on purpose,” I reassured her.”I put it down to tension.”

As I walked out of the door, a customer spoke to me:

“Cor! It’s bl**dy cold, in’it?”

Perhaps I should have said: “It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good.”

Instead I agreed and we both parted happy. I didn’t bore him with the fact that I prefer the cold to the heat. I love it when a cold wind blows!

Perhaps the recession won’t turn out to be so bad. In fact there would not be a recession if everyone stopped talking about it and just acted as if everything was right with the world.

Yet again, belief proves to be a key factor in all our lives!

Today, Monday 29th Sept 2008, I walked round the neighbourhood at midday.

As I strode, or rather ambled, down Berens Way a young, thin fox came out of one of the houses on my left. It had something in its mouth. It looked at me in surprise and returned, without too much hurry, the way it had come.

A little further on, I was about to turn into Clarendon Way when a black cat came hurtling towards me. It, too, was surprised by my presence. It turned round very quickly and rushed back up Clarendon way.

It jumped on to a wall, looked round the corner of the wall, saw that I was still around, jumped higher up on to a fence and then disappeared on to the other side of the fence.

Both animals, the fox and cat, had showed survival wisdom. They did not know whether I was a threat or not but made sure they kept their distance in case I was. They didn’t try to show how tough or brave they were. They just ran off.

The Chinese recognise the wisdom of animals and believe that humans can learn from them. We can certainly learn survival techniques such as how to run without hesitation.

A cat can also teach us to sit and stare at nothing in particular - a kind of meditation. Most people who meditate describe how it makes them feel relaxed and energetic. The mind is allowed to focus on just one thing like the view ahead in the case of the cat.

Cat’s don’t usually go for walks but they are incredibly agile. The cat in this account jumped about three or four times its own height on to the wall with casual ease. Cats do stretch slowly and luxuriously every now and then and spend a lot of time sleeping.

Maybe we should spend more time stretching and sleeping. I would find the sleeping part quite easy. Hindu pushups imitate the action of the cat. They are used frequently in Chinese martial arts. I was taught how to do them years ago by Tony Leung, a martial artist from Hong Kong.

Humans who overtrain end up with all kinds of injuries which often
shorten or limit their athletic or sporting careers. They do, however, have to train very hard to achieve the kind of abilities shown so naturally by animals or fish.

Rebecca Adlington broke a world record at the Beijing Olympics. She does not achieve her swimming speed by the occasional leisurely swim.

She is in the pool for 160 days a year and swims 8,400 miles a year - the distance from London to Hong Kong. She swims for 4 miles 10 times a week for 50 weeks of the year. Her training is relentless, monotonous and exhausting for hour after hour.

She puts in the hours of hard work so that once every four years the world is hers. She is not content with the two gold medals she won for the 100 and 400 metres freestyle swims in Beijing. She wants to push herself further and is thinking of preparing for the 200 metres as well in 2012. Three gold medals would provide her with a worthy challenge.

We can learn from the animals but also need to learn from other humans. If you want to swim well at the London Olympics don’t rely on your cat to teach you how. Study Rebecca instead!

Today, Sunday 28th September 2008, was a sunny and warm day. The heat was not humid - a really pleasant day.

About 100 yards from my house I saw a large aggressive looking dalmatian approaching me with its owner.

I strode confidently towards it and it seemed a little concerned. It barked but in an unassuming way.

I reached out a friendly hand as we came closer but it did not want to know. It jumped to one side and scooted past me.

The owner smiled at me - she seemed not to worry whether her dog might cause angst to passersby! She knew it would not bite but I didn’t!

Later I met a jazz musician who has a gig in the Isle of Wight coming up. He will be playing the trumpet in a hotel on top of a cliff overlooking the sea for five days.

In Clarendon Way I passed another person I often have a few words with. We mentioned that the day was hot but not humid and he commented that you can breathe easily on a day like this.

I replied that I had just ordered a DVD on how to breathe deeply.
He asked if I had breathing problems. I explained that I didn’t have any problems but believed that breathing is so important that it is worth learning how to do it well - it is after all mankind’s favourite hobby.

Breathing properly benefits your health in so many ways. I’ll write more about this after I have studied my DVD!

Tonight, Saturday 30th Aug 2008, I walked out along my usual route at about 8.30 p.m.

I said ‘Good Evening’ to a lady with a large golden labrador just up the road from my house. She seemed nervous at this time of night but the dog came over at once wagging its tail.

“She likes men”, the lady said. The labrador sat down in front of me blocking my path effectively. She was overweight and probably felt like a rest. I sympathized entirely.

Eventually, the lady pulled the labrador away and they continued their evening walk. The incident reminded me of the importance of exercise for lazy labradors and lazy humans.

We all need to move around more. Moving around more gets the blood flowing and expends more calories so that we can lose unnecessary weight.

Just standing burns more calories than sitting down like the labrador! Instead of sittting down and saving calories we only need to stand up more often. The football crowds who prefer to stand to watch football have the right idea!

We should, then, stand rather than sit and walk whenever there is a chance to walk. Even stretching when you are at your desk can burn calories. Chewing gum can burn extra calories.

Thank goodness there is at least one benefit from chewing gum.
Even bending over to pick it off your shoe might help you gain flexibility!

Of course, sitting probably uses more calories than lying down. Some dogs unlike the labrador hit the pavement as soon as their owners stop for a chat!

You can also split your workouts into small sections throughout the day. Instead of 15 mins do 5 minutes in the morning and at noon and in the evening.

You might find an acronym helpful as a way to remember some of the key ways of burning calories. I can’t think of a good one yet, but try remembering the 4 S’s.

Stand often
Seize chances to walk
Stretch
Split your workouts

Today, Saturday August 23rd, 2008, I walked round the neighbourhood twice.

The second time was after dark and I noticed one burglar alarm that had a flashing light. Another one had a flashing light with a minor explosion of light every few seconds!

I expect that the competitive spirit will lead to more burglar alarms with flashing lights in the near future. Competition can push the human race from one astonishing achievement to another!

The Jamaicans are so competitive that over fifty thousand people will attend a high school sports day looking to discover yet another great runner like Usain Bolt.

Usain has just won three gold medals and broken three world records in the Beijing games. In fact the Jamaicans have dominated the track events.

Usain believes strongly in the power of hard work: “Tell the world that with hard work anything is possible.”

He also believes in avoiding worry in the spirit of ‘Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile boys that’s the style’.

An interviewer asked Usain: “You always seem so relaxed, laid back and enjoying the moment.” Usain gave a clear explanation for his attitude and for the antics which the crowd love:

“That’s what you should do. You have to enjoy yourself. When you start thinking too much, that is when you get problems You think about the race too much then you get nervous: ‘Oh God! I’ve got to get a good start. I got to remember to run up my drive (lane?).’

“Then you start to over think. You lose focus on what you should do or you keep telling yourself you are going to make a mistake. So I do all kinds of stuff to keep my mind off worrying about the race.

“When the starter says: ‘On your marks!’ then I say: ‘Alright! Lets go!’ I get on my marks and I have no time to think about anything. You just do what you were trained to do. You trained for months for this moment and you just execute.”

Maybe we need to worry less and free up our minds to take action. Working hard and walking a lot will also help to remove worry from our minds and allow us to do almost anything we want to do.

This morning, Tues 19th August 2008, I walked down Berens Way when a Ford Mondeo with ladders on top drew into the side of the road just ahead of me.

I immediately assumed this was Steve, my window cleaner, whose car looks exactly the same. He often stops for a chat in Berens Way or Clarendon Way. I leaned down to speak to him but was surprised to come face to face with a smoking skinhead. He said:

“Bravo!”

I looked at him and then at the driver. Neither was Steve!

“Sorry, I thought you were someone else - a friend!”

As I walked on, I thought I heard the skinhead saying:

“You poor fool!”

I could have gone back to check on what exactly he had said. But that would not have been a wise move. Any unnecessary confrontation, born of pride, is usually a mistake.

It is especially a mistake in your own local area. Even if you win any confrontation, your opponent knows at least roughly where you live and can return with reinforcements at a later time. You would have to spend far too much time looking over your shoulder.

On reflection, the skinhead was partially right. I have done many foolish things in my life. I once actually mistook another car that had stopped for the car of a fellow teacher. I thought the driver had stopped to give me a lift to the school.

Without bothering to check that I was right, I opened the car door and leapt into the front passenger seat. The driver took this very calmly!

“What now?” he said. Possibly, he thought he was being hijacked!

I apologized profusely and exited left!

Many of us do foolish things but, hopefully, that does not make us poor fools. I would much rather be a great genius!

Today, Wednesday 30th of July 2008, I got out for an early morning walk partly to avoid the heat.

As I walked down Berens Way, I noticed a strange sight. The dustbin men were running to the houses and back to their lorry pushing heavy bins.

I guessed they were trying to avoid working during the hotter part of the day but spoke to one of them anyway:

“Why are you all running?”

“It’s hot i’nit? We want to get it done!”

His words made sense. Today looks like it is going to be a scorcher. I can only pity the England and South African test teams who will start the third test match of the four match series at Edgbaston today.

England lost the second match that I discussed in the last post so South Africa are one up in the series with two matches to play.

As the dustbin man suggested drive and urgency gets things done and nothing is worth much until is actually done. Who wants to eat a half cooked sausage? Who wants to read an incomplete book?

Getting it done allows you to discover whether you have wasted your time or spent it well. Delay and taking a long time keeps you out of touch with reality.

Whatever you are doing, get it done and avoid the heat and the frustration that comes with slow progress. Brian Tracy has written somewhere that successful people have a sense of urgency about them. They like to move fast and get the job done!

However, urgency does not mean doing everything fast. It just means getting on with a task at a pace which will help you do the task well or reasonably well.

Some dustbin men (not necessarily my group) had left litter from a dustbin strewn all over the pavement at a house in Marlings Park Avenue this morning.

Their urgency had led them up the wrong path of more haste less speed. Be urgent but do the job properly or it will take much longer to get it done!

Today, Sunday July 20th 2008,is the third day of the second Test Match between England and South Africa at Headingley. The South Africans successfully frustrated the English bowlers in the first test and forced a draw at Lord’s.

England thought they had the upper hand in the first test but had a rude awakening when their bowlers struggled against the South African batsmen.

It is easy to take offence with the universe when things don’t go your way but the English players kept their cool, for the most part, and congratulated the South African batsmen for their sterling resistance and never say die spirit.

In the second test both the English batsmen and bowlers have failed to achieve the desired results so far. However, the English crowd and players are remaining philosophical and are keeping on supporting and trying hard to win. South African currently have the upper hand but who knows what may happen?

In fact, news has just come through that the top South African batsman, Prince, is now out.

My walk this morning was not especially eventful. I did see a cyclist hunched over his cycle looking as if he was having a heart attack. I nearly went over to ask him if he was alright when I realised he was probably just talking on his mobile.

A few minutes later he cycled past me saying ‘Good Morning!’

To learn how avoid frustration and achieve your goals check out
www.motivationtoday.com/36_laws.php